With the increasing complexity of today's software and the proliferation of computer viruses, spyware and malware, computer crashes are not an uncommon occurrence. When a user's computer suffers a catastrophic crash, the computer may not restart properly or the user may discover that his hard drive has been damaged or erased. Such permanent damage to a user's files is particularly common where virus or malicious software is involved. When such damage occurs, the data on the user's computer will be lost, unless the user has previously saved the files on other storage media other than the local computer's hard drive.
Data can also be lost due to physical damage of the computer or computer data storage device. Portable computers, including notebook computers, hand held computes such as personal data assistants (“PDA”) and mobile telephones are particularly vulnerable to physical damage as well as theft. Often loss of the data is more significant than the loss or damage to the hardware. Accordingly, data storage and retrieval is important.
Conventional file backup and storage systems typically involve hardware and software that copies all files on a computer. The entire drive—including large programs, hidden files, and other extraneous data—is typically copied, compressed and then either stored on local storage media, such as an attached disk or a special partition of the user's computer hard drive. This process is time-consuming and typically must be done when the user is not already using the computer as the conventional backup process will be interrupted when the backup system attempts to copy a system file that is in use. Further, restoring a computer from a back-up is a tedious and lengthy process. The difficulty of this process is especially problematic if the user needs immediate access to data that was only saved on his damaged computer.
A user may need to access data on a home or office computer when away from his home or office. While a number of programs currently exist enabling a user to access data on a remote computer from a second computer, these programs typically require the installation of special software on both computers to operate and requires the computer to be accessed remotely to be in particular state. If the home or office computer has been powered down or restarted, for example as a result of an automatic operating system update, the remote-access software will not be operative and data on the home or office computer will remain inaccessible. While use of portable computers partially resolves this problem, such portable devices are frequently the target of theft.
Another common problem is missed obligations, such as driver's license renewals, license plate sticker renewals, annual payments and birthdays, just to name a few. Today it is the individual's responsibility to keep up with the many obligations, regardless of notifications by government agencies or the like. Even if a notice, e.g. a license renewal, does not reach the individual, he/she is still held responsible. Appointment books in both manual and computerized form are commonly used to calendar dates, but these systems are not entirely satisfactory. Furthermore, if a computer-based calendar is used and the computer is damaged or crashes, appointments and other dates are lost.
The difficulties of file backup and calendar management are compounded in a multi-user environment, such as a small business. A small organization may use a Local Area Network (LAN) to manage the computers, printers, mail servers and storage devices used by the organization. This requires a significant financial investment in technology and in information technology (IT) professionals to support such LANs. If the LAN fails due to a virus or some other cause, the work of the organization is significantly impaired.
Additionally, if a member of the organization is away from the office's physical location, that person may only have limited access to his electronic workplace. In addition, if the physical office becomes inaccessible, such as due to a fire, flood, or blizzard or the like, the organization will have difficulty functioning.
It is an object of the invention to provide a system, method and computer program product whereby a user can easily select data to be copied to a system computer, and can also easily transfer data back to the user's computer once it has been repaired, or to a new computer if the first computer cannot be repaired following a crash. It is also desirable that the data saved in the system computer may also include appointments, contact information, emails and other data.
It is also an object of the invention to solve compatibility problems between different types of computers, including PDA's and mobile telephones, and operating systems as pertains to data backup, storage and transfer.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a data backup, storage and retrieval system, method and computer program product that operates without any need to install backup, storage, retrieval, file transfer, or other application software on the user's computer. It is desired to have a system that requires only conventional web browser software on the user's computer.
It is another object of the invention to provide a system, method and product that can provide reminders to the user of important appointments and dates, and whereby the dates and other data are secure.
It is a further object to have a multi-user version of the system, method and product that can host multiple users for backup, data storage and retrieval. A multi-user account is particularly suited for business applications where an account administrator could manage the access levels of multiple sub-accounts, each sub-account corresponding to a single user. It is particularly desirable to make the administrator's controls as simple to operate as possible so that a person of limited technical skill can manage the multi-user account so that the small business owner may manage the file system himself without the need for technology professionals or a dedicated network. It is also desirable to have a system where a user can access data from multiple locations and not be tethered to a single physical location where his primary computer is located. It is a further object that such a system not require special software for the user to access and retrieve his data from a remote location.
It is also desirable to have a system with strong security features to prevent unauthorized access. It is desirable that in addition to verifying that the user's username and password, that the system will confirm whether the user's location is known to the system, and if not, the system will require further user authentication information.
Finally, it is an object to provide a system, method and product that quickly enables the transfer of files, especially large files, from one computer to another computer over the Internet.